Nike unveils period-conscious England women's kit with blue shorts

Sportswear brand Nike has unveiled home and away kits for the England women's football team, which both include blue shorts after players voiced concerns about wearing white while on their period.

Designed by Nike for this summer's Women's World Cup, the home kit features the Nike Pro Short in a hue called Gym Blue, while the away kit's shorts come in Coast Blue with a Gym Blue trim.

Both pairs were integrated with the sportswear brand's Nike Leak Protection: Period technology.

This consists of an ultrathin absorbent liner that is built into the shorts so that players can bleed more comfortably and discreetly if they find themselves on their period during a match.

The move comes after England players, including forward Beth Mead, spoke about the impracticality of wearing white shorts during last summer's Euro 2022 tournament, which the team won in an all-white kit.

"Professional footballers play two 45-minute halves without breaks or time-outs," said Nike women's global sports apparel vice president Jordana Katcher.

"Many told us they can spend several minutes on-pitch concerned that they may experience leakage from their period."

"When we showed them this innovation, they told us how grateful they were to have this short to help provide confidence when they can't leave the pitch," she added.

The home kit's shorts will be worn with a white shirt, the colour of which was informed by the original Wembley Stadium's "chalky white brick exterior", while the away kit will be all-blue for the first time.

Ahead of this summer's World Cup, the updated Nike kits will debut at Wembley Stadium on Thursday, where the England women will play Brazil in the first-ever Women's Finalissima.

At the end of last year, Manchester City Women switched from white to burgundy shorts – designed by Puma – as a result of player feedback.

Other national women's teams West Bromwich Albion and Swansea City have also made similar changes, opting for navy and black shorts respectively.

For the 2022 FIFA World Cup, sports brand Hummel designed intentionally toned-down football kits for Denmark's national team as a protest against the event being hosted in Qatar and to criticise the country's human rights record.

The image is courtesy of Nike.